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LYC
NEWS DEC 2003/JAN 2004
CANADIAN
RECOGNISED MARRIED GAY COUPLE FIGHTS FOR RECOGNITION IN
HONG KONG
HONG
KONG, CHINA: A gay couple who flew from Hong Kong to
Toronto to marry are fighting to have their union
recognized at home. Roddy Shaw and Nelson Ng have taken
the Hong Kong government to court to win tax status as a
married couple. However, a spokesperson from the Hong
Kong bureau of Financial Services and the Treasury said
that HK law only recognised marriages if they involve a
man and a woman. "This is extremely unfair,"
said Shaw. "Why do other couples in this society
enjoy protection and social benefits, but not same-sex
couples?"
Shaw
and Ng have been closely watching international
developments as they prepare for the next round of their
two-year bureaucratic battle with the Inland Revenue
Department to secure access to the spousal tax
allowance.
"We
expect to begin our case in the next few months,"
said Shaw, who recently completed his master of laws in
international human rights at Hong Kong University and
heads Civil Rights for Sexual Diversities, a
non-governmental advocacy group.
For
more info, please go to the Sydney Star Observer site
at: http://www.ssonet.com.au/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=2786
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NEW
GAY MARRIAGE BILL IN TAIWAN
TAIPEI,
TAIWAN: After Taiwan's gay and lesbian parade , now the
Taiwanese government has put forward a bill to legalize
gay marriage - and this is expected to be passed on
December 10th. The draft of the Human Rights Acts Bill
stipulates that all people shall be treated equally
regardless of their place of birth, gender, ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, language, religion, profession or
sexual orientation. Particularly significant is the
provision that would grant gay and lesbian couples the
right to marry, form families and adopt children.
The
Bill , if passed, would make Taiwan become the first
country in Asia that recognises gay marriage. The Human
Rights Basic Law has been created at the suggestion of
President Chen Shui-bian, a former lawyer for political
dissidents during Taiwan's martial-law years The new
bill , would be a development of recognition of gays by
the Taiwanese authorities. Since 2000, the Taipei City
Government has joined gay rights groups in organising
the annual Gay Carnival and held Taiwan's first Gay
Pride Parade in Taipei on November 1.
Lee
Ming-chao, director of Taiwan Tongzhi (Gay) Hotline
"Our parade does not last for very long, but it is
a good start,"
According
to the Taiwanese Government Information Online website,
about 1,000 gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and
their supporters came out and marched for 30 minutes
wearing colorful costumes and masks to coincide with
Halloween. They waved rainbow flags and shouted slogans
to spectators along the way. This is not large compared
to Bangkok Pride or the Sydney Mardi Gras, but it is
significant in a country like Taiwan. There are still
quarters within the conservative Chinese society that
shuns gays.
For
more details, please go to: http://publish.gio.gov.tw/FCJ/current/03112111.html
Also
see SAPA: http://www.q.co.za/2003/11/1711_taiwan.htm
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BANGKOK
PRIDE 2003 - A SUCCESS MORE OR LESS THAN LAST YEAR'S?
BANGKOK,
THAILAND: Bangkok's fifth annual Gay Pride Parade drew
thousands of participants , 10 colorful floats,
marchers, and spectators in November 2003. The floats
sported Rainbow flags, the international gay color with
signs written in both Thai and English proclaiming gay
pride.
The
parade attracted about 10,000 people, which one is the
largest in the Asian continent. Visitors from all over
the world came to witness this event. This is part of
Bangkok Pride 2003, which lasted about a week. Bangkok
Pride 2003 kicked off with 'Pride in the Park' with
gay-friendly stalls, bowling, tennis and volley ball
competitions, and the 4th Annual Utopia Awards. However,
this year's Bangkok Pride were not seen by some to be as
successful as pride during previous years.
In
fact, Dragoncastle.net, one of the leading and most
influential of Thailand's gay themed websites "
castigated it as an "unmitigated disaster", alleging
that there has been "poor organization, poor
coordination and poor publicity". To be fair, this
year's Pride was beset by problems, possibly beyond
their control. There was the all-important APEC leaders
summit which meant that Thai authorities delayed in
rubber-stamping and authorizing the Pride parade for
November 16th. According to OutUK on Bangkok Pride, the
government's "moral and social order" campaign
- which has included police raids of gay saunas, bars
and nightclubs where patrons have been forced to give
urine tests - has again cast such a shadow over the gay
community. As a result, a number of businesses were less
ready to sponsor the event. In spite of that, all the
events took place more or less on schedule, many people
seemed to enjoy themselves and had a great time. It is
anticipated the organizers of Bangkok Pride 2004 next
year will make even greater efforts to outdo this year's
outcome. There will be more people from abroad expected
for Bangkok Pride 2004 as many people will be attending
iCON 2004, the Long Yang Club International Convention (www.longyangclub.org/icon2004),
from Nov 17-21, 2004, expected a few days before Bangkok
Pride starts, depending when the organizers fix the date
for Pride.
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ILGA
ASIA MEETING A LANDMARK FOR GAYS IN ASIA, BUT MAY HAVE OUT PRICED
POORER ASIAN GAYS
MANILA,
PHILIPPINES: The International Lesbian and Gay
Association (ILGA) held a landmark 9 day meeting in
Manila in mid-November where 400 delegates from 30
countries tackled discrimination against homosexuals,
particularly in Asia. At the meeting, Germany's top
human rights official has urged the Philippine
government to 'take care of gays and lesbians'. Claudia
Roth, German federal commissioner for human rights
policy and humanitarian aid, said the best way was to
pass laws upholding homosexuals' rights. "That
there is already discussion on the necessity of an
anti-discrimination law is a first step. Same-sex
marriage and same-sex partnership will be the
future," Roth assured Asian homosexuals. However,
gays and lesbians in Asia face a much steeper uphill
battle against discrimination. Gay rights activists say
that much of the region are reeling under an atmosphere
of extreme homophobia where they are constantly
harassed, humiliated, or shunned . Or they are even
beaten up in societies that cannot accept them for what
they are. No event can be one hundred percent
perfect.
At
the ILGA conference, the differences in financial
standing of Asian gays and Western-based gays came to
the head. Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network
Philippines (LAGABLAB-Pilipinas), wrote an open-letter
on the internet. Because of the 'steep fees', some of
the local gay organizations and individual members could
not afford to participate. LAGABLAB decided to
co-organize Activity Exchange, a one day event around
the same time as the ILGA conference.
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LYC
MONTREAL GETS FORMAL TEAM
MONTREAL,
QC, CANADA: News from Tony Wong, one of the main
organizers of Long Yang Club Montreal, that our chapter
in Canada's largest Francophone city has been
reorganized and a new executive committee has been
formed.
The
major positions for the LYC Montreal executive committee
are filled by the following persons:
President
- Daniel Manningham Vice President - Tony Wong ( myself
) Secretary - Jean-Claude Crescenty Treasurer - Bill Eng
Dir. of activities - Raymond Cheung and Hoi-Ti Fung
The
club constitution will be created soon, and it will be
in French. LYC Montreal is seeking assistance from LYC
Paris.
In
addition, the committee has voted to submit the
application to the City Hall to become a legal social
club. Once they have obtained the status, they will have
rights to certain benefits including to ask for funds
from city hall to help to build their club, to open a
bank account under the name of LYC Montreal, to rent
classrooms free of charge from universities or schools
for group discussions on more serious subject(s) like
gay marriage, safer sex, orientation for new arrivals.
This
is a big step for the group, which was also co-host
(with LYC Ottawa) for the very successful iCON 2002.
This would enable it to have longer term stability and
to try ensure the continued success of the group.
You
can now email this LYC chapter at either montreal@longyangcluborg
or - longyangclubmtl@videotron.ca
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NEW
LYC STARTS IN BRUSSELS
Brussels,
Belgium: Soon, LYC will have a new chapter in the city
with the seat of the European Union. LYC Brussels is set
up by several gay East-West couples. Apparently, since
Belgium has recognised gay marriage, there has been a
growing number of Belgian and foreign couples. As a
result, there is already a gay 'east-west' community in
the city.
LYC
Brussels plans regular social meetings, including
potlucks, restaurant outings, and social parties in
private homes. They will be forming an organizing team
shortly.
The
website for LYC Brussels is at www.longyangclub.org/brussels
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MR.
& MISS LYC PAGEANT ATTRACTED 500 IN LONDON
London,
England: LYC London, the world's largest gay East-West
group with over 1,000 members and the original LYC
chapter, hosted one of its largest events of the year,
the Mr. and Miss LYC London pageant. This was held on
Nov 29th at the Thai Square restaurant in the City of
London. About 500 people attended. Before the main event
started, guests were able to enjoy a lavish Thai buffet
before they were entertained downstairs with handsome
contestants of the 'Mr.' contest and the 'feminine' Miss
contestants. Recently, LYC London also announced that
they now have their own domain site at www.lyclondon.com.
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OTHER
LYC CHAPTERS IN THE PIPELINE …
LYC
continues to find new cities to start chapters around
the world. Currently, we are in contact with people in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Glasgow/Edinburgh, Scotland. For
Sao Paulo, there are about nearly a million Asians in
the city, so the potential for LYC Sao Paulo is very
good. For LYC Scotland, we have already have an article
in Scotsgay, the Scottish gay magazine, and inviting
people to join the team. The intention of LYC Scotland
is to serve the two cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow,
alternating events between the two cities.
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ASIANS
AND FRIENDS HOUSTON JOINS LYC
Houston,
Texas, USA: Long Yang Club International warmly welcomes
Asians and Friends of Houston, to join our organization
as a full member of the LYC 'global family' of gay
'East-West' groups.
AFH
is one of the leading gay Asian groups in Texas and it
has about 100 members. It has a very active program of
events for its members, a newsletter and an amazing
website at www.asiansandfriendshouston.com.
In November, they have just celebrated their 11th
Anniversary In their newsletter, President Chris K. said
of the party that "This will also be a time to
celebrate our joining Long Yang Club International and
in one stroke, sharing membership with hundreds of
people around the world". We are pleased as AFH to
be a member of the LYC family. We hope that more gay
East-West groups will join Long Yang Club International
in the near future.
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AUSSIE
LYC CHAPTER HOSTS GAY ASIAN CELEBRITY
Adelaide,
South Australia: LYC Adelaide had a special guest, Pak
Kin Ho, a a University of Sydney academic and
documentary film maker. In his presence, LYC-Adelaide
showed his film "Different Shades of Pink" at
the Gay Feast Festival. It was followed by an open forum
discussion led by our current president Chris Winzar and
other participants including Pak Kin. The documentary
film was shot in Sydney and interviews gay asian/western
partners and discusses the differences and problems with
an East-West relationship as well as the joys.
Care
to look at his site http://www.geocities.com/pkinau/
LYC
Adelaide also has a tent at the Gay Feast Festival which
was held over 4 weeks. As a result, our South Australian
chapter received quite a lot of publicity.
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